Concrete block and wall.



No. 841,414. f PATENTED JAN. 15, 1907. E. D.y MERCHANT.

CONCRETE BLOCK AND WALL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 23, 1906.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK D. MERCHANT, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

CONCRETE BLOCK AND WALL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 15, 1907.

Application filed March 23, 1906` Serial No. 307,606.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK D. MERCHANT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin 'and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Concrete Blocks and Walls; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to concrete buildingblocks and walls constructed thereof', and has for its object to improve the same in the several particulars hereinafter noted.

The invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described, and defined in the claims.

yIn'practice it has been found that walls .constructed from concrete blocks, even when provided with air-s aces, are not impervious to the passage of fost and moisture when the inner and outer portions of the Wall are connected by portions of the concrete structure. The commercial demand at the present time is for a concrete wall having a continuous air-space in which the inner and outer portions of the wall are not connected by concrete, but are bound or tied together by metallic reinforcements. AAwall of this ,kind when -properly constructed will be impervious to the passage of frost and moisture and will make it practicable to plaster directly onto" the inner surface of the wall, thus avoiding what is known as furring out.

My invention has for its particular Object to provide a concrete wall made up of blocks which may be cheaply constructed, easily handled, and rapidly laid and which will form a wall with a continuous air-s ace and in which constructed wall a metalic reinforcement or binder is provided that serves to rigidly connect but space apart the blocks of the inner and outer sections of the wall and to lap and reinforce the joints between abutting blocks of the inner and outer sections of the wall.

The invention is illustrated in the accomindicate like parts throughout the views.

Referring AVto the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view showing a portion of a wall cone structed and laid inaccordance with my invention.- Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line x2 a? of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a erspective view of oneof the improved b ocks of whichthe Wall is constructed. Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2, but illustrating a slightly-modified construction. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the blocks used in the structure shown in Fi .4 and Figs. 6 and 7 are details in plan, il ustratin slightlymodiied forms of the metallic rein orcements or binders.

The blocks, which are indicated by the numeral 1, are, as shown, of rectangular form and are provided with flat inner and outer faces, although'it will of course be understood that in practice both the inner and outer surfaces of said blocks may be made in any form desired, so far as this invention is concerned. Fig. 1 illustrates the manner iny which the-blocks -may be conveniently laid. The blocks of the inner and outer sections of the Wall which lie in the same horizontal plane lap joints with each other, and of course the blocks which make up the successive layers of the wall-sections also overlap with each other. As clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a continuous air-space is formed between the inner and outer sections of the wall.

The metallic reinforcement or binder shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is in the form of a continuous wire 2, (preferably an iron or steel wire, galvanized,) which is bent alternatelyr in one direction and then in the other to form a series of rectangular loops or panels, and this metallic reinforcement is laid between the blocks of two successive layers of the inner and outer sections of the wall in such manner that it laps the joints between the ends of abutting blocks and extends alternately from the inner to the outer sections of the wall to thus lap the opposite joints. In order that this metal reinforcement or metallic binder may be more eflicient as a reinforcement and, further, to utilize the same as a means for properly spacing the blocks that make up the inner and `outer sections of the wall, the said blocks are formed in their upper faces with approximately L-shaped grooves 3, that receive the longitudinally-extended and part of the transversely-extended portions of said metallic reinforcement.

metallic reinforcement or binder thus laid into the grooves makes it an easy matter to properly aline the blocks of the inner and IOO outer wall-sections and properly space the y blocks of the said inner and Outer wall-sections.

In Fig. 4 metallic reinforcements 2EL are shown asmade up of flat metal bars bent into the form already described. With this flat-bar reinforcement it is advisable toform the blocks in their lower face with approximately U-shaped grooves 4, that fit over and receive the upper edge portions of the longitudinally-extended end portions of the transversely-extended parts of the said metallic reinforcement 2a, With this latter-described construction the blocks of successive layers are interlocked together by metallic reinforcement, and in both of the constructions described the blocks'of the same horizontal layers of the inner and outer sections of the wall are interlocked together by metallic reinforcements. This metallic reinforcement o r binder greatly increases the tensile strength of the wall, and hence increases its ability to resist lateral pressure. The wall is therefore also very well adapted for use as a retainingwall.

In practice instead of using a long metallic reinforcement running from one wall to another it will'be desirable to employ a metallic reinforcement made up of a plurality of duplicate sections 2b, such as shown in Fig. 6, or duplicate sections 2C, such as shown in Fig. 7. These duplicate sections can be very easily handled and very easily laid, and when laid in grooves with their ends overlapped and embedded in the cement or mortar which is used to unite the blocks they give fully as greatly increased strength to the wall as the reinforcement 2. These sections mayvof course take a very great many different forms; but they'should be angular and should be made in duplicate for the sake of cheapness and ,convenience in laying.

To make the metal binder serve also as a spacer, as above noted, it should have dimensions which, measured transversely of the wall, exceed the added distances between the inner or opposing vertical faces of the two wall courses and the longitudinally-ex'- tended portions of the grooves in the blocks of the respective wall courses. With this arrangement the combined binder and spacer serves as a gage for spacing the vertical wall courses and insuring the desired predetermined width of air-space between the two vertical wall courses.

What I claim is- 1. A wall having a continuous air-space, and made up of blocks laid in laterallyspaced vertical courses, with the horizontally-alined blocks of the inner and outer l l l courses overlapped with respect to each! other, and a continuous metal binder and spacer following an alternately-looped line from the onevertical course to theother and extending across the joints between the ends of abutting blocks, said blocks having grooves that receive said binder and spacer, and the said binder and spacer being made up of duplicate sections having overlapping ends located in the grooves of said blocks, and. the transverse dimensions of said binder and spacer being such as to hold the inner and outer courses of said wall spaced apart.

2. A wall having a continuous air-space, and made up of `blocks laid in laterallyspaced vertical courses, with the horizontally-alined blocks of the inner and outer courses overlapped with respect to each other, and a continuous metal binder and spacer following an alternately-looped approximately rectangular line, from the one vertical course to the other and extending longitudinally across the joints between the ends of abutting blocks, said blocks having angular grooves that receive said metal binder and spacer, the transversely-extended portions of said binder and s acer being longer than the added distance -Between the inner or opposing faces of said two vertical courses and the longitudinally-extended portions of the grooves in the respective component blocks thereof, substantially as described. Y

3. A wall having a continuous air-space, and made up of blocks laid in laterallyspaced vertical courses, with the horizontally-alined blocks of the inner and outer courses overlapped with respect. to each other, and a continuous metal binder and spacer following an alternately-looped approximately rectangular line' from the one vertical course to the other and extending longitudinally across the joints between the ends of abutting blocks, said blocks having angular grooves that receive said binder and spacer, the said binder and spacer being made up of angular sections having overlapping end portions located in the grooves of said blocks, and the transversely-extended portions of said binder and spacer being onger than the added'distance between the inner or opposing faces ofsaid two vertical courses and the longitudinally-extended portions of the grooves in the respective component blocks thereof, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK D. MERCHANT. Witnesses:

A. H. QPSAHL, E. W. JErPEsEN.

signature 

